The announcement by President Putin that as part of the long expected merger
of Promexport and Rosvooruzhenie he would also fire the heads of the two organizations
and replace them with the current Deputy General Director of Promexport Andrey
Yuryevitch Belyaninov as head of the new agency Rosoboronexport. Has surprised
many observers, but according to a report in Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya
Gazeta, was also a revelation to the Prime Minister Mikhael Kasyanov and the
Presidential Chief of Staff Alexander Voloshin, closely associated with the
exiting head of Rosvooruzhenie.
Belyaninov, a 43 year old former KGB officer in the Service of Foreign Intelligence,
since leaving the service in 1992 has held various roles in the banking industry,
the latest as Chairman of Novikombank, one of whose main shareholders is the
Veterans of Foreign Intelligence who own 17.5%. He was appointed Deputy General
Director Economics at Promexport in December 1999.The reason for him being chosen
over Chemezov, the head of Promexport is unclear at present, as Chemezov, who
took control of Promexport earlier this year, was widely seen as a Putin loyalist
and was expected to take control of the agency he had lobbied to be created.
According to reports, the decrees for the restructuring signed by Putin came
from the Security Council and followed a meeting in October of the VTS (military
technical cooperation) Commission responsible for the agencies. At this meeting
Ogarev opposed the merger of the two entities, as he has for some time, but
was outvoted by the former head of Rosvooruzhenie, Gregory Rapota fired and
replaced by Ogarev earlier this year and now a First Deputy Prime Minister at Industries, Science and Technologies, Chemezov and Klebanov. Despite Ogarev
being reportedly offered, along with Chemezov, the post of First Deputy General
Director of the new entity over the last ten days, he is reported to have decided
not to accept and take some "time out".
The new agency seems set to be dominated by the Promexport management, who
are reported to be looking to move offices, systematically pushing the managers
of Rosvooruzhenie to the rear. Key figures in the new management are likely
to include Sergey Laryguin the son of the former head of Russian Military Intelligence
(GRU) Fydor Ladyguin and head of the Promexport department responsible for negotiating
export contracts. Other key names also include former Rosvooruzhenie senior
manager Yevgeny Ananyev , who has been advising Chemezov on the new agency,
which will be established in three months. Ananyev's re entry into the mainstream
defence export business is treated by some with trepidation given what they
see as his disastrous tenure at the agency in 1997, which some attribute the
problems of the agency at the time with.
Ogarev is reported to have asked Putin to move the start date for the new organization
forward to before the end of 2000. Believing that customers will see the reorganisation
as a means of delaying payment of the $1.5billion due between October and December
2000, arguing that they will deal with the new entity. Ogarev has also been
reported to have expressed his concern that the lack of experience of the new
management may hinder negotiations with India on equipment sales given that
the Indian are actively trying to push the price of equipment down and will
be required to sign a new contract with the new entity.
The control of the new agency though the VTS has also been transferred from
the Ministry of Industry and Science to the MoD, under the control of the General
Department of International Cooperation rumoured to be headed by Lieutenant
-General Vladimir Lyashenko reporting to Minister of Defence Igor Sergeyev.
This effectively means that former Chairman of Yakolev Alexander Dondukov and
Minister of Industry, Sciences and Technologies has lost control of the arms
export business, as has Ilya Klebanov. There are press reports in Moscow however,
that the transfer of the business to the MoD could see the replacement of Sergeyev
by a civilian as the minister in charge, the suggestion being form some sources
that the candidate maybe Ilya Klebanov. For the exporters the change of the
agencies impact remains uncertain. The funding negotiated by Rosvooruzhenie
for the financing of exports including a line of $50m agreed in October with
MDM Bank, will have to be renegotiated according to the bank.
